Severe Weather & Lightning
Outdoor workers are on the front line of storms. Lightning, wind, tornadoes and flash floods can turn a normal shift deadly in minutes.
- Construction
- Outdoor Work
Lightning
- When thunder roars, go indoors. If you can hear thunder, you’re close enough to be struck.
- Shelter in a fully enclosed building or a hard-topped metal vehicle with windows up. Job trailers may not be safe; open-sided tents and sheds are not.
- Stay inside until 30 minutes after the last thunder.
- Get off cranes, lifts, scaffolds, roofs and steel, and away from tall objects, water and metal fences.
High winds
- Follow manufacturer wind limits for cranes, aerial lifts and suspended scaffolds.
- Secure loose material, sheet goods and debris before storms.
- Brace walls under construction. See Masonry.
Tornadoes and floods
- Know your site’s shelter location. See Tornadoes.
- Get out of trenches and excavations when heavy rain or flooding is expected.
- Never drive through flooded roads. See Hurricanes & Floods.
Monitor the weather: assign someone to watch forecasts and alerts every day, and use weather apps with lightning alerts.
Standards & references
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